Police bust illegal video website in Zhenjiang

Police in Zhenjiang, East China's Jiangsu Province on Tuesday cracked down on an illegal video website which is accused of making 8 million yuan ($1.1 million) from posting over 30,000 film and television dramas without authorization.

The Public Security Bureau of Zhenjiang announced at a press conference on Tuesday that they have successfully unraveled the country's largest case of copyright infringement committed by a website, local newspaper Modern Express reported.

Police said the video streaming site, www.xiamp4.com, had been offering for viewing and download 34,835 films and TV dramas without the authorization of the producers.

Three suspects have been arrested, 18 servers have been confiscated and three bank accounts have been frozen so far, said police.

Lu Zhendong, the police officer in charge of the case, told the media that the website attracted a large number of users through these free videos and then made money by running advertisements for online game companies and overseas gambling websites.

The prime suspect, a 30-year old man surnamed Jiang, confessed that there was little investment on the business and majority of the cost came from renting servers. For example, the 13 servers confiscated in Zhenjiang cost 20,000 yuan per month while the other five in Xiamen, Fujian Province cost 8,000 yuan per month.

Jiang admitted that part of the films and TV dramas were obtained from overseas video websites and others were downloaded from domestic websites. Moreover, they also purchased films recorded in cinemas for 100 yuan to 1,000 yuan each.